College Basketball Looks For Monday Night

I spoke about this weekend, and how bad it has gone for sports betting. I mentioned hockey has been bad, the NBA has been a battle, and football was a disaster. One thing that hasn't really had a road bump is college basketball. Sure there have been some 1-1 days, but for the most part, this has been a successful stretch of basketball. I have two plays for tonight and hope we can go 2-0 once again in college hoops.

Wake Forest vs. North Carolina, 7:00 ET

I always think basketball is interesting when you just look at the team's records. In the NBA, for example, if a team is 13-5, like Wake Forest, and a team is 15-3, like North Carolina, they both would be considered some of the best teams in the league. However, in college, Wake Forest is not ranked and North Carolina is. A lot of that has to do with the strength of the schedule and who you beat (and who you lose to). Wake Forest started the season with three losses in their first five games. They lost at Georgia by three points, a game on the road - something that hurts a lot of college clubs. Then they lost to Utah and LSU on neutral courts. I don't think they should've lost either of those games. After those losses, they ran off a streak of nine straight wins. They are 2-2 over the last four games, their two losses were road games and they were losses of five and seven points. Wake Forest is led by a very strong backcourt that has four guards who average a combined 61 points per game. The problem in this game is that they are likely to get demolished by the North Carolina frontcourt. They have two guys, Efton Reid and Andrew Carr, that they can probably throw at Armando Bacot from North Carolina, but I don't expect them to fully stop him. The Tar Heels backcourt is also very effective from the floor. RJ Davis leads the team in scoring and as good as Wake Forest is, I don't expect them to slow him down all that much in this game. North Carolina has been rolling lately, winning eight straight games and their only losses this season have come on neutral courts. Wake Forest certainly needs to be respected, but I think North Carolina takes care of business at home and covers the -8 spread.

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 25: Head coach Hubert Davis of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Virginia Cavaliers during their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on February 25, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Cincinnati vs. Kansas, 9:00 ET

I mentioned the records of the two teams in the first game, this one features the exact same records with Cincinnati sitting at 13-5 and Kansas at 15-3. What is interesting is that Kansas has dropped two of their five games within the conference including games against UCF and West Virginia. Both of those were road games, and both were close games. In their loss against West Virginia, they just couldn't get stops when they needed to. Against UCF, it seemed like they couldn't figure out the defense. Statistically, these two teams are very evenly matched. Kansas however has been through the gauntlet of teams already this year. They can beat you inside and outside. Their scoring isn't very balanced, but they are a deep team. Cincinnati hasn't had to play many talented teams this season until January. Tonight marks the last of a six-game stretch where they will play a ranked opponent in each game. It also was the first time all season they have faced a ranked opponent. Now, going into Kansas, they don't have much reason to think they can pull this one out. I'm not quite sure how the Bearcats plan to stop Hunter Dickinson. The only saving grace for Cincinnati is that they have a deep team, one that sees eight players score seven or more points per game this season. I don't think Cincinnati matches up well with the Jayhawks and I'm going to take Kansas to cover the -8.5 in this one.

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